


Wingman

by GalahadWilder



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalahadWilder/pseuds/GalahadWilder
Summary: Hawkmoth's Akuma have been acting strange lately--every single one has been an obsessive LadyNoir shipper, much to Chat's horrific embarrassment. Ladybug hasn't noticed, but Chat can't quite get over the fact that Hawkmoth seems to have redirected his supervillain antics to setting him up with the girl of his dreams.





	1. Seven Minutes in Heaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter's gonna get angsty, but it gets sillier from here. Promise.
> 
> Also, Seven Minutes in Heaven is inspired by a comment from https://my-life-is-an-empty-pizzabox.tumblr.com/

Dark Cupid.

_“Of course! A kiss will break the spell!”_

***

Volpina.

_“Give up your Miraculous, or I drop Adrien!”_

***

Lovestruck.

_“While I appreciate the… *ung* attention, My Lady, the Akuma is getting away.”_

_“But Chaaaaaat…”_

_“Ladybug. Please. Don’t do that to me.”_

_"It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”_

_“Only when it’s what_ **_you_ ** _want. And this isn’t you.”_

***

Heart’s Desire

_“What did you see?”_

_“Why, you, of course. What did you see, Bugaboo?”_

_“Just… a friend. From school.”_

*** 

LadyNoir

_“Now kiss each other, or I drop the bus!”_

_“Oh come on! This is ridiculous…”_

_“Chaton. It’s for Paris.”_

***

Now. Seven Minutes in Heaven.

Chat prowled around the purple, swirling dome, feeling the growl rise in his throat. He could see through the barrier, of course, clear enough to see all of the other domes, the other couples, scattered around the park. He’d already blown his Cataclysm earlier in the fight to drop a section of bridge on the Akuma’s head, but the tactic hadn’t panned out. As far as he could tell, he was stuck here. For seven minutes. Alone.

With her.

Ladybug was collapsed against the side of the dome, taking quick, sharp breaths that couldn’t be giving her much air. Her lucky charm was stuck on the other side of the barrier, and her earrings were already down to four spots. Four minutes left until she detransformed in front of all of Paris, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Everything they’d fought for, everything they’d put their lives towards, was about to come crashing down around their ears--no wonder she was panicking.

“What’s the matter, Chat Noir? No quips? No lines?” The girl on the other side of the dome was wearing what appeared to be an entire closet amalgamated into a single set of clothes--Chat could hardly tell where the ties blended into the dress, where the jacket became snow boots. She smiled menacingly as the familiar purple outline of a butterfly appeared on her face. “You’re stuck in there with her for the next seven minutes. I thought you’d be happy about the opportunity.”

But Chat didn’t have the luxury. Didn’t have the luxury of panic, either. He pressed his face as close to the surface of the dome as he could, growling at the Akuma that Hawkmoth had apparently named Seven Minutes in Heaven.

She flicked the surface of the dome. “Come on, Kitty,” the akuma said. “Enjoy yourself.” Then she turned and _leaped_ and wow, she could jump. Made it across the park in one go, all the way to the top of the buildings nearby. Leaving Chat alone with a panicking Ladybug.

He sighed. “Oh, this is a new low,” he murmured. Then he got to work.

Ladybug might have been braver, more clever, more perfect than him in every way--but here, where all conventional options had failed, Chat had one advantage. He fought _dirty_.

First things first, find out how far down the dome goes. He attacked the street with his claws, digging into the mortar and prying up bricks to see if he could get under the purple barrier--but no dice. It wasn’t a dome, it was a _sphere_.

He sat back. One plan down. Next: structure of the dome itself. It wasn’t soundproof--he’d heard Seven Minutes speaking through it with perfect clarity, so it _definitely_ wasn’t airtight. Had to be something he could do with that.

He was spinning his wheels. Of course he was spinning his wheels. There wasn't anything he could do, and they were going to be exposed in front of all of Paris, but Ladybug’s reaction to panic was to freeze. His was to go into overdrive. Even if it was useless.

Ladybug cleared her throat, standing up. “No Cataclysm?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, My Lady,” he said. “I used it on the bridge.”

She wiped tears away from her eyes, steadying her breathing as she turned to the matter at hand. “We could see if we can get any civilians nearby to bust us out." 

Chat shook his head with a throaty chuckle. Gallows humor. “I could just as well try to _spit_ it open,” he growled. “My claws couldn’t pierce it from either side, what is a civilian going to do?” 

Ladybug grabbed his shoulder. “Maybe you should ask them,” she said, pointing to… Alya and Nino? But they’d been trapped halfway across the park not three minutes ago. The two of them were sprinting towards the trapped superheroes, Alya in front with her untamed mane of hair splaying out behind her in the wind, Nino desperately racing to keep up with his girlfriend. 

Alya practically screeched to a halt in front of the purple bubble. “It’s like the game,” she gasped, leaning on her knees.

“What?” Ladybug said, pressing her palms against the shimmering purple barrier. “How did you get out?”

Alya and Nino looked at each other, then looked away, their faces red. “We, uh…” Alya murmured. “We got bored, so we started…” 

“We kissed,” Nino said. “A lot."

Alya rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, we… started making out. And the more we kissed, the faster the barrier drained…” 

Chat facepalmed. Oh, for the _love_ of _God!_ This was… this was… 

Ladybug was looking away, hugging herself. He knew her well enough to know that she was nervous, scared, that this wasn’t--but then she turned to look at him, and he could swear her expression was almost… hungry.

He swallowed. “We… don’t have to, if you don’t…”

She put her finger to his lips, shutting him up. Slowly, she closed her eyes and breathed in. “You want to kiss me, don’t you _Minou_?” 

He blinked and bit his lip. “...Usually?”

“Then shut up and kiss me.” And suddenly she was on him, her legs wrapped around his waist, her palms framing his cheeks, her breath hot and sugary-sweet in his mouth. He drank her in, running his claws through her hair, feeling every part of her pressed against all of him.

The purple glow vanished, and Ladybug separated herself from him with a gasp. She marched up to Alya and glared at her. “ _None_ of that goes on the Ladyblog.”

Alya gulped. “N-no. Of course not!” she giggled, a bit of red tinging her face.

Chat took an extra second to breathe in Ladybug’s scent, cinnamon and yeast, before he spun his legs in a helicopter motion and kicked himself back up onto his feet. “Well, My Lady,” he said, his customary grin spreading across his face, “that was certainly fun, but I think it’s time we go after the Akuma, don’t you?”

Ladybug met his eyes, then immediately turned away, her face flushing the pink he so loved to see. “Yeah--yeah,” she said. “Let me just… recharge first?” She turned toward him with an embarrassed giggle.

He glanced down at his ring. “Oh. Right.” He looked up and saluted with his fingers. “See you in two.”

*** 

Three hours later. 

“Have you noticed anything… weird about the Akumas lately?” Ladybug asked, swinging her legs back and forth beneath them. They were seated on one of the struts of the Eiffel Tower, one of their favorite places to unwind after a long battle.

Once they’d gotten free of the barrier, taking down Seven Minutes in Heaven had been easy--though not simple; figuring out which of the hundreds of out-of-place articles of clothing had housed the Akuma had been frustrating to no end. Still, Ladybug had managed to pinpoint it so that he could tear it apart with his claws, the Akuma had been captured, and all had been well.

And now she was springing _this_ on him.

“Uh, no?” he said, hoping she didn’t hear the lie in his voice. Of course, he had noticed that the Akuma had been getting strange. There’d been a trend, lately, one that he’d been hoping she wouldn’t notice--but of course she did. She was Ladybug. He’d never have fallen for her if she wasn’t brilliant.

“Yeah,” she said, leaning back. “They’ve all been love Akumas lately. Like, is Hawkmoth going through marital troubles or something?”

Chat found himself laughing despite himself. “What, you think there’s a Mrs. Hawkmoth?”

Ladybug smiled. “Oh, yeah. _Honey, come clean up the dishes!_ ” she said, in the most obnoxiously high voice she could muster. 

Chat cackled. “ _But darling, I have to go destroy Paris and steal jewelry from children!_ ” he responded in a deep voice that he realized sounded quite a bit like his father.

“ _You can destroy Paris later, mister!_ ” Ladybug said, flicking Chat on the nose.

Then both of them stopped, staring into each other’s eyes with smiles lighting up their faces. “ _Honey, where’s my super-suit?_ ” they shouted in unison, before falling into each other, cackling.

“Oh, _dieu_ ,” Ladybug said, holding her stomach and wiping her eyes. “Can you even _imagine_ a Mrs. Hawkmoth?”

“Yeah,” Chat said, the smile fading from his face. “Maybe he misses her.”

Ladybug chuckled. “What, you think he’s trying to send her a message? Come back to me sweetie, or I keep destroying Paris?” 

“Something like that.”

Ladybug shoved Chat in the shoulder. “Come on, _Chaton_. Cheer up! We did good today. Akuma went down, neither of us got our identities revealed, I’d call it a win.”

Chat nodded, staring across town to his mansion, where he knew his father was waiting. “Yeah,” he said. “We did good.”

Ladybug sighed. “I hate to see you like this,” she said. “Was the kiss really that bad?”

Chat looked up, shocked. “What? Oh, no, the kiss was _purr_ fect,” he said. He reached up to scratch his chin. “Though… I suppose I could ask for _another_ for com _purr_ ison…” he added, leaning forward.

Ladybug laughed. “ _There’s_ my Kitty,” she said, pushing him away by his nose. “I’ll see you for patrol tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said. She smiled, and after a moment, he was watching her zip across the Paris skyline to destinations unknown.

He took a moment to compose himself, then launched himself from the tower, dashing across the rooftops toward the Agreste Mansion. He approached within a few short minutes--the suit made him able to outpace most Parisian cars--and saw the window that he’d left open had been shut, presumably by Nathalie. She knew he’d left.

No matter. He went around to the back of the mansion, where a round, butterfly-shaped window remained open. He’d never seen the window until a month prior, but it was always open when he was Chat Noir, and it made a convenient entrance to the mansion. He launched himself through it feet-first, rolling, and coming to his feet--face-to-face with a man in a purple suit and a silver mask. Face-to-face with Hawkmoth.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Hawkmoth reached up to straighten his brooch. “I thought that went well,” he said.

Green light ran over Chat Noir as his transformation released, and now Adrien Agreste stood right in front of Paris’ greatest supervillain. “Seriously, Father?” he said, crossing his arms. “Could you _possibly_ have been more embarrassing?”


	2. You know what they say about Chats and Curiosity

_Three months earlier_.

Adrien Agreste would have been happier to have never known. If things had stayed the way they were, him and Ladybug together battling the Akuma, he would have been happy for the rest of their lives.

Of course things had to change, because they always did. But sometimes... that change didn't have to be bad. Even if it was scary as hell.

It had started when he'd noticed a white butterfly on his way home after a particularly trying battle. At the time, he'd thought little of it. He'd thought it a coincidence, that a white butterfly would be out and about so soon after Ladybug had released a purified Akuma, and hadn't considered it further. They'd never been able to follow the Akuma before--as soon as they'd been purified, they vanished into the sky without a trace.

The second time, he'd gotten a bit curious, thinking that maybe the Akuma _didn't_  vanish. Maybe they went somewhere else once they'd managed to shake the trail of Team Miraculous. But he was on the last minute or two of his transformation, and didn't have time to follow it.

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.

As he dashed across the Paris rooftops on the trail of a white butterfly that he knew had to be an Akuma, he couldn't help noticing that he knew the route they were taking. That the further they went, the more he recognized the buildings they were passing over, and the closer they got to home. His home, at least.

He'd been hoping against hope that it was a coincidence. That they weren't going towards the Agreste Mansion, that the path they were taking was leading somewhere else, that it was a coincidence that every Akuma seemed to be connected to his life, or his father's. But when the Akuma suddenly veered towards the back of the mansion, Chat Noir knew he could no longer deny it. The Akuma was going toward his house.

There was a window in the very back of the mansion, one that he'd never noticed before. It was circular, a perfect circle, with a pattern across it in the shape of a butterfly. It pointed upwards so that it couldn't be seen from the ground, and there were no rooms in the mansion that corresponded to that window. Or at least, no rooms he knew about.

He wanted to deny it, but when the butterfly entered the mansion through that window and a metal iris immediately lensed shut behind it, he couldn't escape the conclusion. Hawkmoth was living in his house.

***

His father had the opportunity. Means? Adrien had found all kinds of information on the Miraculous in his father's secret safe. He hadn't had the opportunity to go over any of it before it vanished on him, but he knew that his father knew _something_  about the Miraculous and their magic. He just didn't know what.

Motive? It wasn't money or power. Gabriel Agreste had plenty of both. So what was it? If Adrien's father was Hawkmoth, why would he do it? What did he want _so badly_  that he was willing to terrorize all of Paris to get it?

It took him days to get up the courage to look. He couldn't tell Ladybug, not yet--he didn't know enough to risk destroying what little family he had left. And maybe... maybe his father had good reason? Maybe...

So instead, he watched, and waited. Patient in a way Chat Noir had never been, in a way that Adrien Agreste had gotten so used to that it was almost second nature to him out of the suit. In the suit was a new experience. He explored the house from the outside, mapping each part of it to rooms that he knew, attempting to place the secret room. Once he felt confident that he knew exactly where in the mansion the room was located, he took a sick day, faked a cough convincingly enough that Nathalie believed him. Then he transformed into Chat Noir, climbed to the roof, and waited near the window.

Sure enough, at about noon, the window irised open, and a black-and-purple butterfly came fluttering out.

Chat sighed. "Let's hope this works," he muttered to himself, lengthening his baton and hefting it like a javelin. Then, with one throw, he casually speared it out of the air.

The baton--and the butterfly--struck the ground together, the butterfly disappearing with a puff of black smoke. For a moment, there was silence... and then a cloud of white butterflies swarmed out of the window. And there, riding atop them like Mister Pigeon, was a man in a purple suit and a silver mask, holding a cane out to side with both hands. "Chat Noir," he sneered. "Where's Ladybug?"

"She's not here for this catfight," Chat said, spreading his arms wide. "This is between you, and me... father."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may seem like Adrien is acting like an idiot at the moment--after all, he didn't have to reveal his identity like that. I promise you, he's not doing it without reason. He's up to something. You'll see >:)


	3. Rememberances

The roof of the Agreste Mansion was quiet, as it should have been. If you asked any random Parisian what they thought would be going on on that rooftop on that random Paris afternoon, they’d have looked at you funny, before answering, “nothing.” And, on any other day, they’d have been right.

If you’d asked any random Parisian how they thought the confrontation between Hawkmoth and Team Miraculous would have gone down, they’d have answered with expectations of a grand battle, blocks of Paris evacuated, fire and brick dust and destruction the likes of which no Akuma had yet to cause. Or maybe they’d take him by surprise, a single Cataclysm cutting him down before he even knew they were there. Maybe… maybe… maybe…

Nobody would have guessed that, at lunchtime on a day like any other, Hawkmoth and Chat Noir stood not ten feet apart, watching each other, sizing each other up, accompanied by nothing but the fluttering sound of butterfly wings.

Chat Noir couldn't see much of Hawkmoth’s face--to much of it was hidden behind his cowl, unlike Chat’s domino mask that only covered so much. But what he could see was the tightening around the man’s eyes, the way the edges of his mouth twitched downward. He knew his father’s facial expressions well. He didn’t know exactly what was going through the villain’s head right now, but he could make a guess.

“It is you, isn’t it, Father?” Chat said, feeling the anime villain hamminess rising within him. _I guess I know where **that** comes from, he thought_. “Behind that mask.”

Hawkmoth’s jaw shifted. His teeth were clenched. It was like everything about Gabriel Agreste--tight, controlled, and yet, Chat could see now, barely containing a seething mass of destructive emotions behind his cold eyes. “Adrien,” Hawkmoth said. “I should have guessed.”

Chat said nothing. For all his planning, he hadn’t actually thought past this moment--he’d been too consumed with the cold rage of knowing that his _father_ had been trying to kill him. He’d brought Hawkmoth up here, and then… what? Ladybug was the planner, not him.

Adrien, on the other hand, knew how to improvise. “You want my Miraculous,” he said. “Why? You have everything you could ever want.” He spread his arms, gesturing down to the four-story mansion below them. “What could be _so important to you_ that you’re willing to kill me for it?”

Hawkmoth stared at him for a moment, his eye twitching. “How _dare_ you?” he whispered. His voice began to rise.“Everything I have done-- _everything_ \--has been for this family!”

“Really?” Chat said, stepping forward. “Cause, you know, this is a _great_ way to show you care! Never come to my fencing meets, never eating meals with me, never even bothering to get me a goddamn _birthday present_ , but oh, having angsty teenagers throw me headfirst through brick walls is what I _really_ wanted for Christmas, so thanks, Dad!”

Hawkmoth stomped forward, leaving his cloud of butterflies behind as he snatched Chat by the lapel of his suit. “You know _nothing_ of what I’ve sacrificed!” he yelled. “What I’ve lost! What I’ve done for you!”

Chat gritted his teeth, thrusting his face into his father’s. “If you’re so intent on being _this_ ,” he hissed, “then why don’t you just kill me.”

Hawkmoth stared ice into Chat’s eyes, and for a moment, Adrien feared that his father was actually going to do it. But then he did something unexpected and inexplicable, something Adrien had never before seen his father do.

Hawkmoth began to cry.

***

“I don’t even know what you think you’re doing out there!” Gabriel ranted, pacing up and down his office. Adrien had never seen him this vocally angry. “It’s dangerous… you could have died!”

“I did,” Adrien said, softly.

  
This brought Gabriel up short. “You… what?”  
he stammered.

Adrien met his father’s eyes. “Remember Timebreaker? When there were two of them?”

  
Gabriel swallowed. “Oh god…”

  
“Ladybug told me afterward. The first one killed me. That’s how she came back. How they came back.”

  
Gabriel collapsed against his desk. “I didn’t… I didn’t know.” He put a fist to his mouth. “Adrien. My son. I’m so–” he choked. “I’m so sorry.”

  
Adrien sat, silent, frozen. He didn’t know how to react to this. He’d never seen his father break down like this, not since… not since his mother disappeared.

“So… I like the suit,” Adrien said, trying to divert his father’s attention. “Very classy. Bit ostentatious though?”

Gabriel wiped his eyes and smiled for the first time that Adrien could remember seeing in over a year. “Your mother’s design,” he said. “She always was the better designer. I was… privileged to have gotten to work with her.” He spun open the safe, the one Adrien had already found. “I take it you were the one who stole the book from the safe?”

Adrien nodded.

“Do you still have it?”

He looked away. “I… lost it. Sorry.”

Gabriel sighed. “Can’t be helped.” He removed something from the safe and placed it on his desk--a porcelain fan, almost like a peacock’s tail. “I was going to give you this when I thought you were ready, but… you already have your own, so…”

Adrien gaped. “Wait, is that…”

Gabriel nodded, sitting down behind the desk and steepling his fingers. “Your mother’s Miraculous,” he said.

Adrien lifted it slowly, reverently, watching the light from the window play across the glass-and-porcelain structure of the magical piece of jewelry. It was different from every other Miraculous he’d seen--his ring and Ladybug’s earrings were simple, minimalistic, functional; while his father’s broach was more ostentatious, it had nothing on this. The fan he held in his arms was nothing less than a piece of art, absolutely beautiful and… heartbreaking.

His father had never had the heart to remove his mother’s clothes from their shared closet. Was this how he felt every morning, looking at the detritus of her life?

He placed the jeweled fan back on the desk as gently as he could. “Mom didn’t die in a car accident, did she?” he said, his eyes glued to the Miraculous.

Gabriel shook his head. “No,” he said. “She bled out as Paon, and I couldn’t save her.” His voice went cold, emotionless, in the way that Adrien knew meant he was bottling up his grief again. He held up the butterfly broach, gazing at the gray stone set in its center. “The Butterfly is powerful, but the power of healing is reserved for Ladybug alone. No Akuma can ever possess it.”

Adrien swallowed. “But you can see through the eyes of the Akuma…”

Gabriel nodded. “I had to watch.” He adjusted his glasses. "After Queen Bee died--”

“Queen Bee?”

“Yes. Chloé’s mother was a Miraculous holder as well, she was part of our team. After she died in battle, we… your mother and I… decided that it would be safer to give up the superhero life. Or at least, I did.” Gabriel’s shoulders slumped. “She could never quite give it up.”

It was like losing her all over again. Discovering he'd never really known his mother, learning about this side of her, and learning how she'd truly died…

“Wait,” Adrien said. “If you wanted out… why the whole supervillain… thing?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Gabriel said. “I'm trying to bring your mother back.”


	4. Crossed Perspectives

"Resurrection?" Adrien said. "Is that even possible?"

Gabriel drummed his fingers on the desk, staring down. "It's been done, a few times," he said. "I wish I still had the book, I could show you."

"How?" Adrien whispered.

"With the powers of both the Kwamis of creation and destruction," his father replied. "Whoever wields them both... becomes a god."

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "So why the whole... supervillain... thing?" he said. "Why not just... ask whoever held the Kwami?"

"Because no one is supposed to wield the powers together," a small, raspy voice said from behind him. A small, lavender creature--Nooroo, Hawkmoth's Kwami--floated into the room and settled down on the desk. "As I keep telling Gabriel, the human body can't take the strain of wielding two Kwami at once. If the holder can't maintain balance between the two powers, the conflict would tear them apart."

"And I've told you before, Nooroo, I know how to maintain that balance," Gabriel said, glaring down at the lavender butterfly.

"Yeah, because if you want to resurrect someone you'll have to kill someone else!" Nooroo shouted. "And do you really think your son is going to let you do that?" He lifted to his feet, flinging an arm back to point at the younger Agreste.

"Wait," Adrien said. "You were going to kill someone to bring mom back?"

"I... yes," Gabriel said. "Yes I was."

"Wh-Who?" Adrien's voice cracked.

"I don't know," Gabriel said, shaking his head and massaging his temples. "I'm sure I'd find someone who didn't deserve--"

Adrien slammed his hands on the desk. "Didn't _deserve_?" He yelled. "Didn't DESERVE?!?"

Gabriel froze.

Adrien shook his head. "I can't believe you were ever a superhero," he said. He turned and stormed out of the office.

Gabriel stared after his son. "I was... I'm doing this for him. For _us._ "

Nooroo crossed his arms. "Did you really think he'd be okay with you killing someone to bring his mother back?"

"I... I had thought..."

"You didn't think that far ahead, did you."

"I don't - this made so much sense to me."

Nooroo floated up to the level of Gabriel's face. "You've been entrenched in this. You made the decision before you knew what all of the steps were, and you learned them slowly. You were... acclimated? Inured. It was easier for you to make the hard decisions once you'd made the easy ones, once you'd lost your objectivity." He pointed to the door. "Adrien is coming into it cold. And he doesn't see it as subjectively as you've made yourself see it."

" _Subjectively?_ " Gabriel snarled, digging his fingernails into the hardwood of his desk. "This is my _wife_ we're talking about! His _mother_!"

"Exactly," Nooroo said. "Do you think anyone else in Paris would make that trade? Do you think _Ladybug_ would make that trade?"

"Yes, but Ladybug is a _superhero_."

"And so is Chat Noir."

Gabriel started, then licked his lips. "You... you have a point."

***

Chat Noir sat on the roof with his knees hugged to his chest, staring down at the Alexandre III Bridge across the Seine, spinning his baton between his fingers. He'd been an idiot. Hawkmoth was evil, and his father was an ass. Finding out that one was the other shouldn't have made him more sympathetic, and yet... somehow, he felt like he'd begun to understand his father better, in that office. He thought he finally knew the man, and then...

He was interrupted by the flutter of wings from behind.

"Adrien, I'm so... I'm so sorry."

Chat turned to see his father, purple suit in the midst of being replaced by white and red, the mask and cane already gone. "Sorry for _what_ , Father?" he snarled. "Sorry for what you've done, or sorry for how I reacted?"

"For... for what I was planning to do," Gabriel said. "Nooroo has been trying to tell me that I have... lost perspective. I hadn't believed it until... you."

"So what, you're going to--"

"I need your help, Adrien," Gabriel interrupted. "And I'm sorry that I didn't ask for it earlier."

Adrien stood, leaning on his baton. "And what, exactly, do you need my help with?"

"Your mother was my moral compass, back in the day," Gabriel said. "You are so much like her, sometimes... I need that perspective. I need you to help me stay... objective."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"I need you to help me stop being a supervillain."


	5. Awkward Fatherly Bonding

"So that's it, then?" Nathalie said. "You're done being Hawkmoth?"

"It is difficult to let go," Gabriel said, staring out the butterfly-shaped window, his hands clasped behind his back. "I spent so long chasing after my wife that I seem to have forgotten about my son. I've been Hawkmoth for longer than I ever was Gabriel Agreste, if I ever was that."

"I mean, you're still _Gabriel_ ," she replied, clutching her clipboard to her chest. "You built a fashion empire--"

"No. Adele did that. She was the designer."

"Yes, but you were the businessman. _You_ built all this," she said, gesturing vaguely to their surroundings. Her hands disturbed several of the butterflies as they passed. "But maybe it's time for you to be Papa Agreste as well."

Gabriel turned. "Perhaps it is. How do I..." His eye twitched. "How do I go about doing that? How do I relate to my son?"

Nathalie pushed up her glasses. "Well, as I understand it, most parents start with what they and their children have in common?"

"That could be awkward," Gabriel said. "What we have in common involves me attempting to murder him and steal his things."

"What about fashion?" she replied. "Adrrien told me that he decided to begin modeling in the hopes that it would bring him closer to you."

Gabriel laughed darkly. "I hope that you are joking." he said. "You saw the Bubbler. Adrien already knows more about fashion than I ever did, and he's never showed any interest in the business side of things." He shook his head. "No, the only thing we have in common is that I used to be a superhero."

"Well, no," Nathalie said. "There is something else."

Gabriel looked at her, a quizzical expression on his face.

Nathalie smiled and turned her clipboard around, showing her employer a photograph: Ladybug, triumphant over a fallen Akuma, Chat Noir standing behind her and staring at her with absolute adoration in his eyes. "Love."

* * *

Adrien drummed his stylus on his desk. His father had asked him some... decidedly odd questions about his relationship with Ladybug last night. He wasn't sure what, exactly, his father had been after - not her identity, certainly: they'd already established that Adrien didn't know it, and that he wouldn't tell his father even if he did. Their recent understanding was new, untested; he wouldn't go so far as to call it "trust" yet.

No, instead, Gabriel had seemed to be questioning his son on his _relationship_  with Ladybug. What he thought of her, how they got along, how often they saw each other, and whatnot. Adrien gave answers as noncommittal as he could manage, but he was worried about what, exactly, his father was intending to do with this information. It was worrying.

"Monsieur Agreste!" Madame Bustier said. "Are you paying attention?"

Adrien jerked upright. "I! Erm. No. I'm sorry."

Madame Bustier grimaced. "Honestly, Monsieur Agreste. You must get more sleep." She sighed. "I assume you've already done this reading?"

"Yes, Madame."

She nodded. "I won't hold you accountable to it _if_  you can tell me what Camus meant by - "

She was interrupted by the familiar tell-tale sound of screaming. _Sacré Bleu, Pére, you promised you'd stop!_

Madame Bustier's eyes widened. "Akuma," she breathed.

Adrien gritted his teeth. "I need to call my bodyguard," he said. "My phone's in my locker?"

Madame Bustier nodded. "Go. Make it quick."

As he dashed down the hall, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. His father's text tone, rarely used.

 _This is important_ , he thought, reaching in to check his messages.

"The Akuma's name is Lovestruck," the text said. "Good luck on your date! ;)"

Adrien's eyes widened. "Son of a bitch..."

So _that's_ why his father had been asking if he had any tests this week...


	6. How Not to Parent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out much more angsty than I intended. I wanted it funny, but it kept fighting me—but on the flipside, it gave me an idea where to go next! So this fic is back, the hiatus is over, and it’s staying around!

Nathalie Sancoeur opened the secret door behind the painting in Gabriel’s study, newspaper held against her chest, and, with careful, yet powerful steps, ascended the ladder/stair that led to Hawkmoth’s lair. She reached up to knock on the trapdoor.

”Come in,” her employer said, his deep voice loud even through the thick wood of the trapdoor.

She pushed it open and climbed into the secret room, waving off the white butterflies that fluttered around her as she glared at the back of the most feared man in Paris. “Mr. Agreste,” she spat.

Hawkmoth sighed. “What is it, Nathalie?”

”When I said you should bond with your son over love—” She flung the newspaper at him, pages scattering across the dark space, falling far short of striking the villain the way she’d wanted but adequately forceful to make her point. “—THIS is _not what I meant_.”

Hawkmoth turned, his gaze passing over the scattered papers, the photos of LadyNoir hoisting a packed bus over her head as Team Miraculous circled, wary, at a distance. He raised one eyebrow, the rest of his face unmoving, even behind the mask. “I’m helping him spend time with the woman he loves.”

“My mother was on that bus,” Nathalie ground out through clenched teeth. “And what would you have done if Ladybug HADN’T kissed him?” She pointed at the photograph. “I don’t know as much about Miraculi as you do, but I doubt your son would have survived being _flattened_ by _public transit_!”

“Yes, but she did,” Gabriel said. “As I knew she would. She’s too heroic not to.”

”And you think that makes things _better_?” Nathalie snapped. “Do you really think Adrien appreciates the fact that whenever she kisses him, it’s because you _forced_ her to?”

Gabriel sighed and held up a hand. A butterfly alighted onto his open palm, and darkness gathered around it, its white wings staining black.

”No you don’t,” Nathalie said, producing her smartphone and tapping the screen with her thumb. The walls slid open, revealing Hawkmoth’s missile silos. She waved her phone. “We are having this conversation, and I’m not letting you Akumatize me to get out of it.”

Hakwmoth stared at her, his eyes wide, and swallowed. “You—you wouldn’t.”

Nathalie grinned, her thumb hovering over the button to fire. “You shouldn’t have given me the codes to the missiles.”

They stared at each other in silent standoff, each with their chosen weapons held high, before Hawkmoth breathed out. “You’re bluffing,” he said. “You’d get hit too.”

”So are you,” Nathalie fired back with a grin. “You’ve already got an Akuma out and you can’t make two at once.” She locked her phone and placed it back in her purse. “So I guess we have to have this conversation.”

Hawkmoth grunted and released the dark magic from the butterfly. “I knew you were too clever when I hired you,” he grumbled. “Should’ve listened to that voice.”

”Someone dumber would’ve gone to the police months ago,” Nathalie responded. “And they wouldn’t be able to run your house for you, you lovely buffoon.”

Hawkmoth stepped forward, grasping her hand in his own, and brought it up to his lips. “What would I do without you?” he said with a smile.

”What indeed,” she said.

They stared into each other’s eyes, and something seemed to pass between them—but in suddenly, Hawkmoth’s cane began to ring, and the moment vanished.

* * *

"Hey, Dad?” Adrien said into his phone. He was sitting in his computer chair, but his computer was slightly out of his reach at the moment, and he was far from comfortable.

”Yes, this is Hawkmoth.”

”Care to explain what Ladybug is doing in my room?”

Hawkmoth paused on the other end of the line. “Confirmation of a hunch,” he said.

”Oh, is that your dad?” Ladybug said, leaning against Adrien’s chest. “Tell him I said hi.”

”Bugaboo,” Adrien said, taking his phone away from his ear, “would you mind moving? I’m kind of stuck.”

”I’m good here,” Ladybug said, settling further into Adrien’s lap. She kicked up her legs over his knee and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning her head onto him. Her feet dangled over the side of the chair. “Nice and comfy.”

Adrien growled. “Don’t you have an Akuma to stop?”

”Akuma?” Ladybug said, her stormy blues going wide and innocent. “I don’t know what you’re...” Her gaze grew cloudy. “Wait... there was...” She shook her head. “No, no Akuma! Just spending time with my favorite civilian!”

She leaned forward and nipped at his ear, causing him to back away.

Adrien put his phone back to his ear as he tried to push his amorous partner away with his other hand. “Dad,” he snapped. “What did you do?”

“The Akuma makes people forget about anything but whoever they’re in love with,” Hawkmoth replied. “I’ve seen how she acts around civilian-you—”

”And you thought I’d be okay with this?” Adrien tried to yell, but it came out strangled as a sultry Ladybug ran a finger down his chest.

”Well, it’s proof she’s in love with you.”

Adrien breathed in, trying to control the raging desire within him. “Your methods suck, you friggin’ sociopath,” he said. “Remember when you asked me to tell you when you were going overboard on supervillainy? _You’re going overboard_.”

There was a moment of stunned silence from the other end of the line. “I—” Hawkmoth said. “I’m just... I’m trying to be a good father.”

”And... I appreciate that,” Adrien said, ignoring the light touch of Ladybug’s lips against his neck. “But mind controlling the girl I have a crush on and throwing buses at her if she won’t kiss me is _not_ how you do it.”

”...oh,” Hawkmoth said, quietly. “I’m... sorry. I was only trying to help.” He sighed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Are you kidding me?” Adrien snapped. “You’ve been trying to kill me for over a year, and you’re asking me why I was afraid to tell you that you were hurting me?”

Hawkmoth was silent for a moment. “I’ll recall the Akuma.”

The phone clicked. And then, three seconds later, Ladybug pulled away.

”Oh my god, what am I doing here?” She yelped. “A-Adrien?”

She launched herself backwards, falling out of his lap and onto the floor. “No no no no—” she said, putting her fists to her ears.

Adrien jumped to his feet. “You’re okay!” he yelped. “Nothing happened, you’re fine, I’m fine—”

”There was an Akuma!” Ladybug said. “Oh my god, there was—!”

”Chat Noir took care of it!” Adrien interrupted. “Everything’s okay. You’re okay.”

“I... didn’t do anything weird, did I?” Ladybug said.

Adrien pursed his lips and closed his eyes. “Nothing weird,” he said. “Just, you know, Akuma stuff.” He sighed. “Are you okay?”

”I think so,” she said, looking down and dusting herself off. “And, I mean, Chat’s had worse, so it’s not like I can exactly complain.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ladybug rested a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be,” she said. “It’s not your fault.”

 _Plagg-dammit_ , Adrien thought. _Talk about a guilt trip._

* * *

”I can fix this,” Hawkmoth said, pacing the lair. “I can fix this. Adrien is upset, I can—” He reached up for a butterfly.

Nathalie snatched the cane from his hand and bopped him over the head with it. “No!” she yelled. “Bad Hawkmoth! No more Akuma!”

Hawkmoth slumped, his shoulders collapsing. He turned to look at his assistant, his eyes brimming with tears. “Nathalie?” he said. “Am I a sociopath?”

Nathalie clutched the newspapers to her chest. “For the sake of my job, sir, I don’t think I can answer that.”

 


End file.
